


endgame

by yucc



Category: One Piece
Genre: ... I think, Battle Scenes, Canon Compliant, Eventual Happy Ending, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Snippets, the marcoace here is very slight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-18 09:33:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28990029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yucc/pseuds/yucc
Summary: "You took everything from me."As the final war rages on, Sabo is just in time to stop the looming darkness from disturbing Luffy's battle with Sakazuki.(or: Sabo remembers Ace, and settles his score with Marshall D. Teach.)
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace, Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Sabo, Monkey D. Luffy & Sabo, Portgas D. Ace/Sabo
Comments: 13
Kudos: 52





	endgame

**Author's Note:**

> [ **One Piece** is created by Oda Eiichiro, serialized in Weekly Shounen Jump, published by Shueisha, and animated by Toei Animation. I do not intend to gain any profit from this work.]
> 
> ***  
> hello i'm bacc hahaha. it's good to be bacc??? real life ate me whole LOL.  
> i'm planning on continuing my multichapter fic as well as posting a new multichapter fic featuring marcoacesabo lol. hopefully i caaaan.
> 
> now, please enjoy this and let me know your thoughts! /winkwink

**endgame**

{ _the last stage in a game of chess when only a few of the pieces are left on the board_ }

_“That’s quite a catch, Ace.”_

_Ace looks up. Sabo is standing on top of a thick tree branch, a hand on his hip and another holding onto his trusted pipe. The grin on his face shows the gap between his teeth, prompting Ace to unfurl a smile of his own._

_“Yep! Awesome, right?” Ace replies, crossing his arms in front of his chest, looking so very proud of himself. His recently-acquired stolen pieces of jewelry, the ones with big pearls and gleaming gemstones, sit proudly inside the bag he uses to store them. Another addition to their growing pile of treasures. Ready to be used when the time comes._

_Sabo jumps down and lands right next to Ace. “This calls for a celebration,” Sabo says with a wink._

_Ace grins widely, and says, “Dine and dash?”_

_“Dine and dash,” Sabo confirms with a nod. Sabo ties the bag and pushes it into the hole inside the tree they had made long ago. From the outside, no one can deduce that the tree hosts years-worth collected goods and funds that belong to two boys the age of only eight._

_Right after Sabo finishes, Ace grabs Sabo’s wrist and tugs him forward._

_“Let’s go!” Ace says, and off they go to the town, celebrating another win with food and the rush of adrenaline from running and evading catch._

The battle rages on. Sakazuki is raining magma fists, one after another, down towards Luffy. With Luffy’s ability to glimpse into the future, he manages to avoid most of them. Some push him feets away, some force him to duck and roll so far, it creates a distance between him and the furious Fleet Admiral of the Marines.

Some has even been a close call.

“Strawhat Luffy, you should’ve died at the Paramount War. Together with your brother, the wretched son of Gold Roger,” Sakazuki’s voice booms across the battlefield, amidst the explosion and rubbles falling down everywhere around them.

And Luffy keeps his mouth shut. Even if he has to grit his teeth and let the fire in his eyes be the only thing betraying his silence.

“Don’t worry,” Sakazuki continues, body from the chest to his legs melting into red hot magma,

“I will finish what failed to be done three years ago.”

_When Sabo wakes in the middle of the night, Ace is long gone. Sabo sits up and tries to steady his breathing. The dreams haunting him have been a constant recurrence lately. He keeps seeing his parents dragged him back into their house._

_Sabo’s cage._

_However, the worst of all was seeing the anger and disappointment in Ace and Luffy’s eyes as they learned about who Sabo really is._

_“It was just a dream,” Sabo mutters to himself, as quiet as possible. He glances to his side; Luffy is still deep in slumber._

_Minutes pass, and Sabo’s heart rate is back to normal. Despite that, Sabo can’t find it in himself to go back to sleep. His eyes simply don’t want to close again and go back to experiencing his nightmare._

_Sabo sits up first, then rises. He walks out of their treehouse, climbs down, and treks along the path towards the cliff where Sabo is sure Ace is currently occupying._

_The sight of a ten-years-old boy sitting with knees bent, enclosed in his lithe yet strong arms, greets Sabo once he arrives at his destination. Sabo sees Ace’s black strands blown by a particularly strong wind, right before he sits down next to him._

_“Can’t sleep,” Sabo starts._

_Ace’s gaze remains at the infinitely stretched out sea. In the middle of the night like this, the water looks closer to Ace’s hair color compared to Sabo’s dark blue eyes._

_Sabo counts silently inside his mind from one. He reaches thirteen when Ace decides to reply, “Same.”_

_Sabo hums. This is not the first time they do this. In fact, it has been going on long before Luffy joined them and they become brothers. Every time Ace is plagued with doubts and worries, with inescapable nightmares, he will come to this spot. Sabo will follow along shortly, maybe sometime after, out of solidarity or due to having his own night terrors._

_They will sit together for hours. Sometimes with words, talking about a distant future when they are pirates and free. Sometimes with comfortable silence and skin brushing with skin._

_Ace shifts closer. His head finds Sabo’s shoulder. It seems that it’s the latter occasion this time._

_As Ace keeps his eyes trained at the sea, Sabo looks up to the sky. It’s a dark night, with clouds obscuring the stars’ usual brightness._

_Sabo lets out a soft exhale. Then, he holds Ace’s hand and intertwines their fingers._

_They stay there in the quiet of the night, hand in hand, until the sun comes up._

The moment the Revolutionary Army’s ship docks, Sabo jumps down and runs as fast as he can. He follows his Observation Haki faithfully while looking for one pirate captain and taking down whoever is stopping him in his path. Marines, pirates, Cipher Pols, Sabo doesn’t care.

He only has one person in his mind, and that man is Monkey D. Luffy. The key to this battle. Half of the people in this island follow, with or without verbal declaration as proof. The soon-to-be King of Pirates.

Sabo and Ace’s little brother.

Sabo is not going to lose another brother. Not today.

Not ever again.

_In retrospect, they know this doesn’t start just because, in the morning, they saw a man hugging another man inside Makino’s bar with warmth in their eyes._

_No, this has been a long time coming._

_From the moment silver iris met blue, to the beginning of a friendship that changes into the label “best friends”, which then undergoes another evolution into being “brothers”, Sabo knows this is something that is going to happen with one hundred percent certainty._

_Ace is a handsome boy. Keen gaze, astute mind. Even with all the rage his small body tries to contain in with all the control he can muster. Anger, towards the world that loathes him._

_Hatred, towards himself._

_Even though Sabo knows for sure that it is not fair, will never be fair, to hate someone based on who their parents were._

_So, instead, Sabo dissents with the world. With the system that hails people like his parents like deities and stomps the common folks down beneath their feet._

_And falls in love with Portgas D. Ace._

_They are back on top of the cliff. This time, neither of them has a prior nightmare. They simply come here out of willingness, to seek out each other without anyone disturbing them._

_Ace stands in front of Sabo, a tender look in his beautiful gray eyes. The sharp angles of his usually serious look soften gradually, steadily. Ace holds Sabo’s cheek in his palm, and Sabo can feel Ace’s warmth touching his core, brushing against his soul._

_It is Sabo who leans forward first, but Ace meets his lips just as readily. There is no moon visible in the sky, nor twinkling starlights._

_After they part with each other, Ace whispers to Sabo’s lips, “Stay. Stay forever with me.” To which Sabo replies with:_

_“Okay. You, too. Stay.”_

_It’s a pitch black night. They will call and remember this as the moment they share their first kiss, as well as their last._

_Sabo thinks it’s perfect._

Here is the thing:

Once upon a time, before Reverie fucks his body and mind, Sabo remembers saying this in a land once infested with corrupt pirates and a whole lot of deceits:

“Do keep this in your mind: Whenever Luffy needs me, wherever it is, I will come.”

This is that time. In a war where everyone is fighting everyone, where all the attention will be directed towards Luffy and many people will come after his head at the same time.

And yet, Sabo comes here with another thing in mind.

Sakazuki has turned almost all the land surrounding him into a lava pool. Luckily, being a fire logia means Sabo can avoid setting his feet on the ground using the push of his flame.

Sakazuki aims another massive, boiling magma attack towards Luffy. Sabo knows for sure that Luffy can dodge it.

No, Sabo is not here for Luffy’s battle with the Fleet Admiral. He is here to vanquish the darkness that has been looming in their life since that fateful day in Banaro Island. To eliminate any and all possible distractions from Luffy’s periphery.

Before Marshall D. Teach’s shadow even reaches the future King of the Pirates, it is Sabo’s fire that consumes the all-encompassing black cloud.

_“HIKEN!”_

_People think Sabo only visits Ace’s grave once. In reality, Sabo has stopped counting the number of his visits._

_Sabo always finds himself back here, no matter how far his missions bring him. After he finishes each and every mission given to him, Sabo’s feet carry him again, and again, to the front of Ace’s tombstone._

Ace, may your soul be eternal.

Your brave soul will always be with us.

_The first time Sabo came here, he spent it staring blankly at Ace’s orange hat and green-sheathed dagger, swaying together with the gentle breeze. Sabo stood there for hours, legs rooted to the earth, emotionless and numb._

_Sabo only moved after night fell, and after he listened to Koala’s pleading through his transponder snail, “Sabo-kun, please. Come home.”_

_On Sabo’s second try, he fell onto his knees, body leaning forward and face buried in his hands. At first, Sabo cried, then screamed, as loud as he can. It continued for hours, until Sabo could no longer hear his own voices and his shouts turned soundless._

_Sabo would never budge, if not for the rain that fell in the afternoon, hours after he arrived. He would never leave, if not for the cover of an umbrella that suddenly stopped the penetrating rain from hurting his face._

_“You’re going to be sick,” Marco the Phoenix spoke. His voice was quiet, yet Sabo could hear it amidst the roaring thunderstorm. Could hear it echoing loudly in his head._

_That day, Sabo stopped crying._

_It was after the third visit, that Sabo found his courage to talk to Ace. To share his stories, about the years he spent apart from both Luffy and Ace. To tell Ace about what he did after Ace’s passing, about the war the Revolutionary Army was, and still is, planning._

_To let Ace know that Luffy is thriving, and Sabo is staying._

_Even when all Sabo wants is to never wake up again, so that he can finally face and touch Ace again._

_“You broke your promise, you know,” Sabo says. He thinks, distantly, that this is his twelfth visit. Whether it’s the correct number or not, frankly, Sabo doesn’t care._

_After all, Sabo is going to just keep on coming back here._

_Sabo pours three cups of sake, then drinks one himself. He laughs to himself._

_“I think we both did,” he says._

Sabo moves his battle with Teach as far away from Luffy as possible. It’s not a difficult feat, since both he and Teach can fly wherever to their hearts’ content.

Sabo continues hurtling attack after attack towards Teach. Some get easily absorbed, some manage to push Teach back further and further.

During their battle, Teach keeps on laughing.

Sabo wants to end him.

_A blow meets a blow. It’s funny, that their first meeting is mixed with violence. Gray eyes meet blue, and Sabo breaks into an excited grin._

_Moving forward, Ace and him will trade blows with blows, as they grow closer and closer, gravitating towards each other in the short years they are able, are allowed, to spend together._

For a split second, Sabo closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He gathers his scattered emotions and molds them into one pure, hot, white blinding rage.

Sabo lets himself rise steadily from the ground, propelled by his fire, and soars high. He opens his black, _haki_ -coated hands, palms facing the blood red sky. Sabo lets his fire consume heavy rubbles, lets both red-orange- _blue_ flame and black _haki_ coat them. He lifts them, and feels himself burn.

Sabo throws all the things he can control with his fire towards Teach. Sabo flies forward, chasing after the man who killed his own family, who sold his own family out.

Who Sabo thinks, no matter how many times Sabo tries to reassure himself that Ace made his own decisions and had come to terms with it, shares the blame for the cause of Ace’s death.

Shares the blame with Sabo and his inability to remember faster, his stupidity to forget and never look for his memories during the time when Ace was still burning lively, brightly, with his fire.

Sabo’s chest constricts, excruciatingly, with his ire.

_Luffy is cheering for both of them, laughing at his two older brothers who are deep in a scuffle._

_Truthfully, Sabo doesn’t even remember the cause of his argument with Ace. Now, after so many kicks and punches thrown, Ace is heaving on top of Sabo, legs straddling Sabo’s stomach. Moments before his fist lands on Sabo’s face, Sabo's cheeks heat up, as the memory of their kiss a fortnight ago emerges in his mind’s eye._

_Sabo desperately wants to hug Ace, and meets Ace’s lips with his._

_In the end, Sabo lets Ace punch him. With complete awareness that Ace’s blow doesn’t feel as painful as usual._

_Maybe Ace is feeling the same thing._

_Sabo thinks, tomorrow. He will kiss Ace tomorrow._

_But tomorrow never comes, because by then, Bluejam appears, and everything changes forever._

In Sabo’s palm, there’s a fireball increasing in size. It will not grow as large as the one that once upon a time consumed Banaro Island. Instead, Sabo condensed it until only the size of himself. A white, incinerating flame as hot as the sun itself, that is rapidly corroded with black.

Black with _haki_ , black with grief.

Black with Sabo’s _wrath_.

As Sabo inches closer towards Marshall D. Teach, Sabo’s eyes gleam white, as scathing as his power. He gnashes his teeth in fury.

Then, Sabo whispers with vitriol:

“ _You took **everything** from me_.”

Teach bursts out laughing. The sound is so disgustingly boisterous, it momentarily silences the entire battleground, and draws all eyes towards them.

Teach pulls an ear-splitting, lecherous grin, and retorts back,

“I don’t even care about you!”

_Once, and only once, Sabo dreams of kissing a grown-up, adult Ace under their treehouse in the East Blue. He is now slightly taller than Ace, and Ace’s chest is slightly broader than his._

_Ace’s lips taste the same, just like what he remembers from his once-forgotten childhood. What changes is his hug, arms enveloping Sabo’s body, as it is now a lot warmer._

_Sabo doesn’t mind. He doesn’t mind at all._

_Ace’s lips crush his, and Sabo thinks, hopes, wishes, this is a memory instead._

For that which it never could be.

_That which we never could be._

Sabo manages to grab Teach with his hand. No matter how slippery a logia is, Sabo’s _haki_ will always find them. In his right hand, _Dai Enkai, Entei_ shines brilliantly.

This close to the man, Sabo catches the way Teach’s pupil widens shortly.

Sabo tilts his head slightly to the side,

and smiles.

“ _You will_.”

**Author's Note:**

> It’s been hours since the party dies down. There are many people lying carelessly on the ground, some piling up on top of others. With no care at all to the world.
> 
> The Strawhats. Their allies. Pirates. Even Sabo’s own people.
> 
> They just win the war, so Sabo supposes it’s okay to leave themselves open and defenseless like this.
> 
> Sabo takes a look at Luffy, his little brother, now the Pirate King, sleeping surrounded by his trusted _nakama_. Sabo’s lips curl upward, and his eyes turn tender.
> 
> Then, Sabo starts walking, letting his feet carry him to the highest point around here. To a cliff where Sabo can watch the sea spans across indefinitely. Can feel puffs of air playing with his blond strands.
> 
> A big wave crashes against the bottom of the cliff. The color of the water is dark blue, almost black, reflecting the night sky.
> 
> The sound of wings flapping alerts Sabo to the arrival of a friend. Having exhausted his _haki_ in the entirety of his battle, Sabo’s finely-tuned and trained Observation _Haki_ becomes useless.
> 
> Sabo and the equally blond man next to him say nothing for a couple of minutes. Then, Sabo looks up to the pitch black sky, remembers a closely-guarded and oh-so-precious memory, and says:
> 
> “Do you think he is happy now?”
> 
> Marco hums, then answers softly, “Yes. There are many people who loved him. _Loves him._ Still do.”
> 
>  _Like us_ , Marco doesn’t say. And yet, Sabo understands anyway.
> 
> Sabo’s lips twitch, as water gathers around the corners of his eyes. “I miss him. Do you?”
> 
> Even with his glasses, Marco can feel his eyes getting blurry. “I do,” Marco says, with a voice as steady as he can muster.
> 
> Sabo shifts closer and lets himself lean towards Marco’s side.
> 
> “Do you think he knows that? That we miss him, terribly.”
> 
> Marco wraps one of his arms around Sabo’s shoulder, at the same time Sabo's arm circles the small of Marco’s back. A warm body meeting another, from one fire burning inside towards another.
> 
> This time, Marco thinks of Ace’s smile, and smiles as well. “He knows,” Marco answers with conviction, and feels Sabo’s smile against his body.
> 
> “ _Ace knows._ ”


End file.
